Sunday, March 06, 2011

Geza Vermes, "A Jewish view of Jesus"

There are several videos available online in a series called "The Christ Files". They appear to be from Sydney, Australia, but feature New Testament scholars based in Britain. This one is a short piece in which "Geza Vermes talks about Jewish life in the time of Jesus":



Daniel McLellan confirms that it is filmed at Yarnton Manor, the location of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew Studies.

6 comments:

  1. No, that's Yarnton Manor (3 miles east of Woodstock), where I lived last year. His wife works there and he's usually there a few days a week because of the Journal of Jewish Studies.

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  2. Yes, that's what I meant -- thanks. I couldn't think of the name Yarnton off the top of my head.

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  3. For any who might be interested, last year I posted a short video tour of Yarnton Manor on YouTube. It's a really beautiful place:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV_IgiJj4M8

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  4. Thanks, Daniel. It is a lovely place, agreed. I have visited just once, to film for Mary, Mother of Jesus (BBC), when I ate sandwiches with Geza Vermes as he went out and I came in.

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  5. It is commonly said that the Pharisees were basically middle class and non-priestly. But I'm not convinced of that. Josephus was both a member of the Pharisaic party AND he was from a priestly family (cf. Vita 1.1—2; 9—12).

    The idea that there was a strict divide between the two groups--priestly and non-priestly--is a scholarly myth.

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  6. Sorry to have been so dogmatic in the above comment. I should have said, "It seems to me at least that the idea that there was a strict divide between the two groups--priestly and non-priestly--is a scholarly myth."

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